Evaluating the nutritional and sensory qualities of jackfruit byproducts flour as functional food ingredients

Jackfruit ( Artocarpus heterophyllus ) is a big fruit with numerous bulbs where yellow fleshy bulb is the main edible part while the rest parts of a fruit are non-edible and considered as waste. Therefore, turning this waste into valuable goods through valorization process has drawn the attention as an environment friendly approach of jackfruit waste management. This study compares the nutritional and sensory properties of underused byproducts such jackfruit rag flour (JRagF), rind flour (JRindF), and spadix flour (JSF) to wheat flour (WF). JRagF had the greatest quantities of crude fat (0.91 %), carbohydrates (73.5 %), total phenolic content (19.91 mgGAE/100 g), β-carotene (88.7 μg/100 g), vitamin C (8.2 mg/100 g), calcium (92.34 mg/100 g), and iron (4.59 mg/100 g) among the flours tested. It has high quantities of protein (6.4 %), fiber (5.5 %), energy (327.8 Kcal/100g), and antioxidant activity (9.44 μg/ml) as well compared to other jackfruit flours. JRagF's sensory acceptability score of 8.5 was similar to WF's 8.9 despite its poorer color indices. Principal component and cluster studies confirmed JRagF's nutritional and sensory attributes better than compared to other jackfruit byproducts derived flours. Therefore, JRagF's potential as a sustainable, nutrient-rich component for functional foods suggests environmentally responsible valorization of jackfruit waste.